Good morning readers!
The most popular question I’ve been receiving is about the location of the proposed stadium so I thought I would post my thoughts to share with you all.
My personal preference for the location of the new stadium would be the West Harbour location and its for many reasons. If you’ve been following the story about the light rail transit system here on in the media you will know it is all but forsure. Hamilton may have a strong business case to receiving funding from the feds but the case is stronger if there is a stadium in the downtown that draws 15,000 people for Ti-Cat games or concerts and the Pan Am Games. Many of those people would not venture into the downtown if not for the stadium. If you draw that much pedestrian traffic to a location where the vacancy and properties values are cheap, you are bound to attract investment from business such as retail stores and restaurants. Along with the businesses, you will attract real estate investors looking to benefit from the gentrification and renewal of the neighbourhood which translates into higher rents and increasing property values. I know I’m paying attention for exactly those reasons.
So what are the cons? Well the Ti-Cats dislike the lack of highway access and parking. Valid points and good reasons for taking public transportation. If you’ve ever been on the Go Train or TTC before or after a Leaf, TFC, Raptors games, it’s chock full of fans! They don’t have to pay for parking, no headaches of fighting traffic and its good for the environment. Plus, public transportation is a responsible choice for many who choose to indulge in their consuming of ‘adult’ beverages of the ale or lager variety.
The other locations being investigated are McMaster Innovation Park (MIP) and the East Mountain.
The MIP would be a distant second preference as the plan for those lands were to attract high paying jobs that would attract and retain the young talent in Hamilton. This location would only work if the city could apply their plans for the MIP to the West Harbour so that area is still regentrified and still attracts the same jobs.
East Mountain – the location of preference for the Ti-Cats located just south of where the Red Hill and Link meet with no access to public transportation. Click here for the Ti-Cat’s reasoning for this site selection. A couple of facts are of interest:
• 78% of Tiger-Cats fans live outside of Downtown Hamilton.
• 81% of fans drive to games.
• Tiger-Cats fans surveyed indicated easy highway access and parking availability were the two most important components of a new stadium location.
As I said in the above, the stadium will attract people from outside the downtown. 81% of fans drive to games because there really isn’t a public transit alternative and ofcourse highway access and parking were the most important components. Those are the same complaints the fans have about Ivor Wynne Stadium but would they still complain if there were an LRT that stopped right in front?
Hope that helps!
Till next time, happy investing everyone!
Erwin
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